Night and Day

Battlegrounds

“Show me, who is setting the traps, Augury?”  I am gently led to the water under the docks. The reflection in the water shows the profile of La Zorra.  She’s talking to someone that has decided to stay in the shadows. I hear nothing although I see her lips moving. They seem to be saying the same thing over and over again. The reflection turns its head towards the water and I can finally see her lips well enough to read them.  “Death will come to you!”  Her words are met with laughter.  The voice is soft, feminine, but deep.  “Death will come to us all someday. Today it is here for you.” Out of the shadow comes a slice of silver. La Zorra falls into the water and is washed away by the waves.”   She can’t be dead. I saw her… at the weapons tournament last month. Her guild has been keeping her and her partner, Cyrus busy.  

My thoughts are interrupted by Deraxal. “We need to prepare for battle. The children and anyone not fighting should be moved to the tavern for safekeeping and we need to get the fighters geared up now.”  Augury squawks at me. “Yes, yes you’re right Augury. We also have to figure out how we are going to deal with the magic that we found. Otherwise we’re going into this fight without our casters and their magics.”  Everyone looks at me confused.  “Augury says that the magic at the docks is suppression magic. Which means that our caster’s magic will be of little use to them for this fight.  Maybe I can check the library for something that might help you guys and send the information when I find it. And also talk to Rath and Rose regarding who could be doing all of this.”  Aldfalric raises an eyebrow. “Are you not fighting with us?”  I feel a pull on my arm and turn to find Dax strapping a shield, pulled from the office wall, onto my left arm.  “Of course she is.  Harbour is her home now and she will help defend it.”  Clamping me on the back he grabs Malacity and walks away cheering about how fun this battle is going be.  “I think my use would be better here searching for more information as well as helping watch over those who cannot fight.”  The weight of the shield has me baffled.  How can something so small weight so much?  I move my arm.  There is no way I’m going to be of help with this thing.  “Here try this instead.”  Aldfalric hands me a sword, then starts to loosen the shield.  The sword feels light, more manageable.  I give the sword a practice swing, deftly slicing the air.  “So, you have used a sword before.”  Not a question.  It is said with the air of someone trying to confirm something.  “Shouldn’t you be preparing for battle yourself?”  A small smile forms on his lips.  So small that if I had blinked I would have missed it altogether.  “Indeed.” I stop at my home on the way to meet everyone at the docks, to pick up some supplies. I toss a few herbs into the vial of blood that I found on the docks watching the liquid turn from red to purple. I put the vial back into my vial holder with a few other vials that might be needed in battle. With one more look around my home, I head out. 

Monsters, foul and grotesque, are waiting for us on the docks.  Familiar faces from the town begin to gather around Aldfaric, Malacity, Dax and I.    Among them is Nocturnus, Nomad and Deraxal.  “I count about three hundred to our twenty.  That seems like a fair fight to me.”  Dax and Nocturnus look happy to be facing such impressive numbers.  I, on the other hand, want nothing more than to find a safe place for everyone to hide.  “Nocturnus, do we have a strategy for this one.”  Malacity looks at the druid  pointedly.  “Kill them and don’t die!”  Nocturnus starts toward the mass of enemies waiting for us.  “Wait!  Nocturnus Nsia is right, there is suppression magic here. Our magic will be of little use.  We need a strategy.”  Malicity steps closer so that she can get a feel for the magic that Nomad is sensing.  Augury flies overhead, waiting for word from me about where she should be during the fight.  “Try to find the ones using magic, Augury.  There may be a way to stop it so that our casters can fight to their full strength.” She dips down around Dax, squawking at him, before she spreads wings and flies ahead of us.  “Good thinking, Nsia.  Can you communicate with the bird over distance?”  I nod, staring at Dax. What is it about him that Augury finds so fascinating?  “When she finds their casters, who should I let know the information?”  Everyone looks around trying to figure out who would be the best one to take out a caster.  “Nomad.”  Aldfaric scans the distance between Deraxal and Dax.  “Take Deraxal and fix the situation.  We are going to need our archers at the back taking out as many as they can before going to swords.  Dax, Malacity, and I will run shields.  Nsia, scout out the area for any new traps.  Nocturnus, fight until their casters are taken out, then you and Nomad use your magic.  The rest of you, kill them and don’t die.”  Aldfaric takes Malacity to the side for further strategy while Dax hands me a second sword.  “You heard what he said right?  You don’t die.  If you find yourself in trouble find one of us.”  With a hard clap on the back, we set off to battle.

As we run head first into the waiting enemies, I notice two things.  One, the enemies are all male.  Not a single female in the bunch.  And two, they are all winged.  I don’t get time to think past those thoughts as I skirt around the outside of the battle, looking for anything that might hurt or hinder our side while trying to stay alive.  I killed two of the demons, one with a sword and the other by luring him into an awaiting pit trap, when I’m thrown into a vision.  Four demons wearing red robes are standing next to a railing.  They are obviously our casters and on a boat.  I come out of the vision shaking and surrounded by the enemy.  “Well I don’t suppose we could sit down and talk about this diplomatically can we?”  A laugh escapes one of the males.  The sound is horrid and harsh, and just enough of a distraction for me to run.  I stab my sword into the one directly in front of me, getting him out of the way so that I can move.  They pursue me, which I was planning on.  I run them into the grease trap that I had marked earlier, and then signaled Garret for a flame arrow.  It hits and takes out two.  That’s three down leaving me with four.  They separate trying to corner me.  I catch another one in a web trap and down his partner with a throwing blade left from a previous battle.  I turn left, heading for the main part of the battlefield. 

“Nomad! Boat!”  Behind me I hear the sound of metal meeting flesh as Deraxal takes out the last two of my enemies.  “Thanks.”  I pause to catch my breath.  “There are four of them in red robes on the upper deck of the dark blue boat.  Head north.  There is a trail that takes you to it.  I’ve cleared it of traps but these things may still be lurking so tread carefully.”  Simply nodding, they head out.  I scan the battlefield.  Everyone is fighting their hearts out.  I run up behind a demon and stab him before he swings at Nocturnus.  Another one takes his place, then another.  The swords, once light, are now much heavier with the weight of blood and other bits on it.  I kept wielding it, sending foe after foe to the place of no return.  A hum goes through me followed by a crash of waves.  Like a weight has been lifted, I watch as Nocturnus’ hands glow a pale yellow. “Lightning Bolt!”  The spell sends the five monsters closest to us flying, leaving the smell of charred flesh in its wake.  Off the shore comes a wave of watery destruction heralded by Nomad with Deraxal following in its wake.  With the casters in the battle, the fight goes quickly.  I put down a few more demons before it’s all over.

The battlefield is littered with bodies.  Luckily none of them belong to Harbour.  I watch in awe and horror as Dax beheads another winged demon thing with a single slice of his sword.  Deraxal and Garret take out the last few of them, while Malacity slides the head of a particularly nasty looking demon off her sword with a sickening squelch sound.  I am covered in blood, some mine but most not.  I sway, feeling the sickness come over me.  I’m on my way to the ground when I feel a strong arm around my shoulders.  “Breathe. It’s over and you are alive.”  Nomad’s voice helps soothe me and keeps me on my feet.  From behind me I hear snickering.  “Yeah I think you even killed one or two of them, which is way better than what I expected you to do.”  I’m well enough now to simply glare at Deraxal.  “Seriously, though I was sure you were gonna die, so good job!”  He raises his arm as if to give me a high five, but remembering our significant height difference clamps me on the back instead.  “Are you okay now? You’re not going to fall over if I let you go now?”  I nod to Nomad and say a quiet thank you.  Nomad’s arm is replaced by Dax.  “Oh come on, you know you had fun?  Now I need a drink and maybe a shower.”

Augury flies around Dax, narrowly missing him, as she weaves and squawks.  “That damn bird is going to be dinner one day!”  She flies just out of Dax’s reach and squawks louder. I look back at the body ridden battlefield, something nags at me.  “Augury, those weren’t the threat that you showed to me?”  She lands on my shoulder.  I’m taken in again, this time a place of heat and lots of fire. There are several succubi surrounding a cage. One of the succubus looks at me and screams, forcing me out of the vision, in the process.  “By the Gods!”  Loud squawks are heard as I hit the ground hard, taking Dax with me.  “What the bloody hell was that!”  Everyone looks around waiting for something to appear so they can attack.  Aldfalric helps me off the ground.  “What now?” Since when do Succubus and Incubus work together? They hate each other. Was this a distraction? I contemplate telling him what I fear, but decide to talk to the other seer in the town instead.  “We should get back to town and see if Luna has seen anything else.” As I untangle myself from Dax and stand, I see something out of the corner of my eye. Near one of the boats, laying on the sand is a body that looks eerily like La Zorra. ”Augury, check on La Zorra, if she is still breathing give her this.” I put the vial of purple liquid in her beak and watched her fly over to the body I pointed out to her. She upcorks the bottle and tips the vial on La Zorra face. “Hey Dax, be a dear and carry La Zorra, we have to get her to a healer now.” Dax just glares at me. “Dax.” Aldfalric’s voice is firm and threatening. Dax sighs and walks over to grab La Zorra.